When Caldwell County left Murray with a 20-14 victory three weeks ago, the blue-and-gold Tigers believed they had wrapped up a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
But a Murray upset win at Mayfield the following week left a three-way tie atop the Class 2A 1st District standings. When the dust settled following last week’s regular-season finales, Mayfield had earned the No. 1 seed (and will host Ballard Memorial) according to the KHSAA RPI. Meanwhile, Murray edged Caldwell for the No. 2 seed and the right to host this week’s playoff rematch at Ty Holland Stadium.
The difference was a .59532 RPI for Murray and .58661 for Caldwell. In breaking down the RPI, Caldwell had a better opponents’ winning percentage and was better as far as the winning percentage of its opponents’ opponents. However, Murray’s winning percentage was higher than Caldwell’s because Murray finished 7-2 while Caldwell went 7-3.
Turnovers were key in the first matchup. Murray turned the ball over four times, while Caldwell had just one giveaway. That allowed Caldwell to build a 20-0 lead in the fourth quarter on the way to a 20-14 triumph.
However, Murray outgained Caldwell 346 yards to 184. But 149 of Murray’s yards came on a pair of long passes in the final 5:09. Murray’s two scores came on 73- and 76-yard touchdown receptions — the last with just 11 seconds to play. (Each team completed just two passes in that first meeting.)
Senior quarterback Rowdy Sokolowski leads Murray’s run-heavy attack. He is the team’s leading rusher with 1,012 yards and 14 touchdowns. Sokolowski has completed just 10 passes all season, but six of those have gone for scores.
Murray averages over 258 yards a game on the ground, with junior Gage Sokolowski (681 yards, six touchdowns), sophomore Xavier Biggers (581 yards, eight TDs) and sophomore Kainoa Olive (494 yards, 10 scores) all threats out of the backfield.
Meanwhile, Caldwell has relied on its running game more than it typically has the last 15 years. Caldwell keeps the ball on the ground roughly two-thirds of the time with senior Logan Smiley rushing for 905 yards and six touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jack Stevens is next with 269 yards and five scores.
In the air, Stevens has completed 85 of 143 passes for 755 yards and seven touchdowns.
Max Kramer is the team’s leading receiver with 23 grabs for 329 yards and two TDs.
Caldwell has fared well in the takeaway game this season. Caldwell has forced 31 turnovers — 21 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions — while giving the ball away just 14 times. Murray has forced 10 turnovers this season — five fumble recoveries and five interceptions.
Murray leads the all-time series 19-16-1 and has taken the last four postseason meetings. Caldwell’s last playoff win over Murray came in the 2012 season when Caldwell finished as Class 2A state runner-up.
Caldwell won regular-season matchups in 2013, 2014 and 2019 before Murray came back to win when the two teams met in the playoffs those seasons. Murray swept both meetings last season, winning 41-34 in overtime in the regular season, then taking a 35-28 decision in the playoffs.
The Associated Press ranks Murray No. 5 in Class 2A while Caldwell is No. 6. Meanwhile, BluegrassPreps.com has Caldwell at No. 6 and Murray at No. 7.
Kickoff time for this week’s showdown is set for 7:00.
